Millan, Cerritos Pound Ventura, 9-5

Cerritos College catcher Adam Millan on Friday showed Ventura exactly why he was selected player of the year in the South Coast Conference.

Millan, a sophomore, slammed a pair of homers and drove in four runs to lead Cerritos to a 9-5 victory over Ventura in a first-round game of the Southern California regional baseball tournament at Cerritos.

Ventura (24-15) must win two games today to avoid elimination in the best-of-three series. The first game will begin at 11 a.m. at Cerritos with a second game to follow, if necessary.

Cerritos (27-8-1) held a 9-1 lead when Ventura rallied in the ninth. Three consecutive pinch hits--including a home run by Ron Tegland--sparked a four-run outburst.

Ventura had runners at first and second in the first and sixth innings and failed to score each time. Sam Arroyo (6-4) pitched 6 1/3 innings and took the loss for Ventura.